Shoe and boot cleaner



Nov. 20, 1962 o. F. LIDKE SHOE AND BOOT CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 26, 1960 L J Z,

INVENTOR.

0770 FT LIME Nov. 20, 1962 o. F. LIDKE SHOE AND BOOT CLEANER 2Sheet's-Sh'eet 2 Filed July 26, 1960 INVENTOR. 077 F. 4 10kt UnitedStates Patent Uthce 3,064,295 Patented Nov. 20,1962

3,9643% SHOE AND BQQT CLEANER Otto F. Lidlre, 319 Wilson, Ypsilanti,Mich. Filed July 26, 196i), Ser. No. 45,353 2 Qlaims. (til. 15185) Thisinvention relates to a shoe or boot cleaning device and moreparticularly to a shoe brush of the type which might be mounted upon aporch or entrance of a building.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a moisture proofhousing having a hinged cover thereon which when open reveals a seriesof horizontal transverse brush elements for scraping the shoes or bootsfor removal of dirt.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a storagehousing with an apertured bottom wall and with provision of means forsupporting a plurality of transversely arranged bristle brushes in ahorizontal plane together with an openable cover normally closing thecomplete assembly.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a springbiased mounting for the cover which, when released automatically openstogether with manually operable means mounted on the housing foreffecting a closing of the cover after use.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specificationand claims in conjunction with the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the present shoe brush assembly.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

It will be understood that the above drawing illustrates merely apreferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments arecontemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings, the base assembly generally indicated at 11includes the bottom wall 12 having centrally disposed therethrough arectangular aperture 13. The base includes the upright sidewalls 14,upright front wall 15 and the upright rear wall 16. Hingedly mountedupon the said base 11, as at 20 is the hoodlike cover generallyindicated at 17 which includes a top plate 18 and downwardly andoutwardly tapered front and rear flanges 24, 19. The cover also includesthe outwardly and downwardly extending continuous side flanges 23 tothus provide, not only a cover for base 11, but a form of canopy whichprotectively extends thereover and is hingedly joined thereto by thehinge assembly 20, best illustrated in FIG. 2.

The hinge assembly also includes a pair of coiled springs 20' anchoredat their one ends 21 so as to operatively engage a portion of the base11, and at their other free ends as at 22, operatively engaging aportion of the cover 17 to normally bias the cover to the open positionshown in FIG. 1.

The cover is accordingly normally latched closed. For this purpose thereis provided a support 25 which extends forwardly of the base 11 andwhich has mounted thereon a conventional type of latch assembly 26,whose retaining element operatively and retainingly engages an aperturedportion 27 of the cover 17 for normally maintaining the cover closedagainst the action of the coil springs 29' in a conventional manner.

A release arm 28 forms a part of the latch assembly and upon a slightpressure of the foot, for illustration, causes the latch assembly todisengage from the said cover under the action of the coil springspivoting to the open position shown in FIG. 1.

A plurality of brush supporting frames 29 in the nature of hollow boxesare positioned transversely within the base 11 and include outwardlyextending and laterally depending clip elements 30 which overliecorresponding edge portions of the said base for supporting the threebrushes for illustration in spaced relation upon the upper margin of thebase as best illustrated in FIG. 1.

Each of the containers 29 includes a bottom wall 31 normally spacedabove the apertured bottom wall 12 of said base to define a chamber 16within which dirt, or other material scraped off shoes or bootsaccumulate or collect. A brush assembly is mounted within each of thecontainers 29, including a conventional form of base 33 from whichproject a series of bristle tufts 34 in a conventional manner with thesaid bristle tufts positioned within the said base and projectingthereabove for free access to the user upon opening of the coverassembly 17 and in the manner best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3.

A pair of longitudinally spaced guide sleeves 35 are secured at 36 toone side wall of base 11 and there is longitudinally and adjustablypositioned therethrough the cover closure arm 37 having a disc-likehandle 38 at its forward end normally projected forwardly of the frontWall 15 of the said base.

The closure arm 37 has a stop sleeve 39 secured thereon whichoperatively engages the forward of the guides 35 when the cover is inthe open position shown in FIG. 1. The closure arm 37 assumes the dottedline position in FIG. 1 when the cover has been closed as hereafterdescribed and with the sleeve 39 assuming the dotted line positionindicated.

For the purpose of closing the cover, the handle end 38 is projectedinwardly by the foot or by the hand so that the inner end 40 of the saidarm 37 operatively engages the depending actuator arm 41 secured at 42to a rear portion of the cover 17. Accordingly with the cover in theopen position shown in FIG. 1, an inward projection of the arm 37against the actuator 41 causes the said cover to rotate about its hingeand against the action of the springs 20' to the closed position shownin dotted lines in FIG. 1 wherein the said cover is retained by thelatch assembly 26, as above described.

To open the device for use all that is necessary is to apply the foot tothe latch release arm 28 whence the cover will under the action of thesprings 20 tilt upwardly to the open position shown in FIG. 1.

Accordingly, it is believe that there is provided a very simple shoe orboot brush assembly particularly adapted for entrances of buildings orhomes such as front porches or vertibules, but which, of course, couldhave other uses within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

The elongated box assemblies 29 which hold the brushes 34 in view of theclips 30 are easily removable from the base, and their position may bechanged from time to time as the bristles wear. For example, the firstbrush may wear first, and may be repositioned taking the place of thethird brush, as shown in FIG. 2.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a shoe and boot cleaning device, a hollow elongated base includingside, front and rear walls, a series of transversely arrangedlongitudinally spaced brush assemblies interchangeably mounted withinsaid base, said brush assemblies including an elongated rectangular box,clips at the outer ends thereof turned downwardly and in supportedengagement with the upper edges of the side walls of said base, and abrush mounted within each box including a base nested within said boxand including a series of bristles projecting thereabove and above thetop of said base, a hooded cover hingedly connected to said base at therear thereof, spring means on said hinge connection interposed betweensaid base and cover and normally biasing said cover to open position, alatch on the front Wall of said base normally retaining said cover inclosed position including a manual release.

a 2. In a shoe and boot cleaning device, a hollow elongated baseincluding side, front and rear walls, a hooded cover hingedly connectedto said base at the rear thereof, spring means on said hinge connectioninterposed between saidbase and cover and normally biasing said cover toopen position, a latch on the front wall of said base normally retainingsaid cover in closed position including a manual release, a pair oflongitudinally spaced guides upon a side Wall of said base, a manuallymovable closure arm positioned within said guides having a handle at oneend, an actuator arm depending from a rear portion of said cover, saidclosure arm at its other end operatively engageable with said actuatorarm for pivoting said cover to closed position in registry with saidlatch, and stop means on said arm engageable with one of said guides forlimiting opening movements of said cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS685,765 Jacobs Nov. 5, 1901 747,031 Bartoszek Dec. 15, 1903 919,111Zenke Apr. 20. 1909 1,244,683 Ambruster Oct. 30, 1917 1,277,834 BerdarSept. 3, 1918 2,046,777 Geibel July 7, 1936 15 2,214,129 Fratis Sept.10, 1940

